Responding to the message of Tue, 25 Mar 1997 15:54:55 -0800 (PST)
Brother Ghebru,the only way to escape frome somalia like tragic is through
democracy.Somalians were not ruled in a democratic way before what happened
to them.On the contrary you argument would make more sense if you were in
support of democracy in eritrea now not later,if you do not wont to see
what happened to somalia is happening in eritrea.Democracy is the only way
to avoid any somalia like difficalt,and shoud be implemented in eritrea
now.And to me your point is an excuse and it has political target that has
no advantage to all eritreans.
Adam
from " GHEBRU ANDOM" <semhar@hotmail.com>:
>
>
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> Saleh wrote:
> Now, are we Eritreans saying we are so
> >different from every other African country [better?] that we shouldn't
> >heed their call?
>
> Yes that is what we are saying brother Saleh. You see, we are a very
> young
> nation, just emerging from a cruel and a devastating war. At this point
> in our
> history, unbridled and unrestrained democracy is a recipee for the
> destabilization of Eritrea. You are talking about political parties, on
> what
> basis are these political parties going to be organized? We do not have
> developed institutions of any kind in Eritrea. I would argue that
> advocating
> the emergence of political parties in the present context of Eritrea is
> a
> euphemism for religion and ethnic based politics. Those are the only two
> forms
> of institutions that are relatively developed in our country today. And
> these
> institutions are inherently divisive as the history of our struggle can
> attest.
> The present government of Eritrea can serve as a buffer, until such time
> that
> a thriving civil society and institutions are developed and viable
> political
> parties emerge. Max Weber writes about the role of charisma in
> governing. I
> am of the opinion that we have a charismatic president in our country
> today.
> This I feel is a blessing and the biggest factor in the relative
> stabilization
> of our country today. This will help us escape the fate of Somalia and
> other
> tragi-comic so called nation states in Africa today. One must not
> underestimate the power of charisma and credibility, especially in
> transitional
> periods.
>
> Democracy is not a panacea! In the 1940's for example there were
> numerous
> political parties in Eritrea. This period has been nostalgically quoted
> and
> is remembered as the hey day of Eritrean political life. Well, I beg to
> differ. It is precisely at this time
> that patriots like Abdelkadir Kebire and Woldeab Woldemariam were in a
> life
> death struggle to maintain the very integrity and the unity of the entity
> that
> we call Eritrea today. The political parties of the time were so
> divisive that
> this was a time when the U.N and the big powers were debating the
> partition of
> Eritrea. And of course we now know how the unionist party was so helpful
> to
> the hedious plan of the Ethiopian government.
>
> So brother Saleh, you need to temper your fanciful and fashionable
> infatuation with democracy with the reality of the time. We are all for
> democracy; just let the time be ripe! Moreover, the tension with our
> neighbors
> calls first and foremost for national unity and the preservation of our
> hard
> won independence!
>
> Ghebru
>
>
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